Disorders of Autonomic Control under Conditions of Long-Term Psychoemotional Stress: a Risk Factor and a Predictor of Unfavorable Clinical Course of Cerebral Insult

Abstract

We describe the results of an analysis of the morbidity, clinical course, and mortality resulting from cerebral insult developing under conditions of acute (Spitak earthquake) and long-term (long-lasting energy crisis, military actions, social deprivation, etc.) psychoemotional stresses acting upon a large human population (on the territory of the entire country, Armenia). It is concluded that autonomic disorders related to acute psychoemotional stress play the role of a risk factor responsible for an increase in the frequency of nonfatal disorders of cerebral circulation. At the same time, the respective disorders induced by long-term stress should be considered a predictor of an unfavorable (sometimes fatal) clinical course of cerebral insult. Hypotheses on the influence of changes in fundamental neurophysiological mechanisms of the autonomic nervous system, which result from the effects of psychoemotional stress, on the clinical result of cerebrovascular diseases and, in particular, of cerebral insult are discussed.